I read your editorial, “Remember evangelism?” in the March 22 edition of the Religious Herald with great interest. I certainly agree with the reasons you identified why so many Baptist fail to witness about their faith. I would even take it several steps further. Some Southern Baptists fail to even invite their unchurched and lost friends to their church or to the events their church plans for the purpose of outreach. I have often wondered why this seems to be the case but have never arrived at any conclusion.
Another reason, I believe, many Baptists no longer witness is because their pastor no longer places evangelism as a priority in preaching. But more importantly they are no longer leading their congregations in regular visitation. Even Dr. D. James Kennedy, the founder of Evangelism Explosion, shares in his personal testimony that he did not know how to share his faith. As a result of his deficiency, he developed EE, which has become a world-wide tool to train people in personal evangelism.
Perhaps part of this decline in outreach evangelism can be found with seminaries not requiring a course in personal evangelism that includes visitation into the community. I am of the opinion that an evangelism course that does not include a sufficient number of visitation opportunities is mainly an academic classroom course lacking any practical experience.
Finally, outreach evangelism or just a weekly visitation ministry requires work. It seems that the church is satisfied to offer Sunday school each week, choir rehearsal on a weekly basis, maybe even WMU and Brotherhood weekly; there may be Wednesday evening prayer meeting and perhaps a weekly fellowship meal, but it seems that weekly visitation is something that has gone the way of the Studebaker, Sunday dinner at home, party lines and full service gasoline stations—gone and unfortunately not too sadly missed by many Baptists. As a result many Christians are missing the great privilege our Lord left to us, that is, the privilege of introducing someone to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Like you, I would like to be remembered as an evangelist.
Dick Baker, Norfolk